The Reich Chancellery, 1938-1939
The long Reception Hall in Hitler's new Chancellery building, 1939
One year after being appointed Inspector General for the Construction of Berlin, Speer was asked by Hitler to build him a new Reich Chancellery. Hitler wanted the Reich Chancellery to be finished within a year; this was a tight schedule, one that Speer achieved. Speer’s plans further reflected architectural megalomania that had previously made him a favorite of Hitler. The Reich Chancellery was to have 420 rooms and a main gallery twice as long as the Hall of Mirrors. Hitler’s study was two stories tall and an air-raid shelters were added.
Around eight thousand workers assisted with the development so the Chancellery was finished on time and to Hitler’s satisfaction. The Chancellery was completed on 7 January 1939, two days before the deadline.
The Chancellery was intended to impress and intimidate visitors, especially leaders of other countries. This is evident in the design and layout of the Reich Chancellery, as every aspect of the building was double the size it had to be. The buildings vastness was not a necessity but a symbol of the Nazi regime and how Hitler wanted it to be presented. It was presented as an overwhelming display of wealth, technology, power and to essentially intimidate visitors. It states in Republic to Reich, K J Mason that “The chairs were embossed with eagles and swastikas, but no cabinet meeting was ever held there”. Thus, this further demonstrates that the Chancellery was a symbol of wealth, advancing technology, efficient and ordered work, prosperity and so on. Depicting that the Chancellery wasn’t always occupied by Hitler or his followers and not used to its full potential, yet it was a symbol of success and intimidation which in some ways more important to Hitler.
Due to the Allies bombing the Chancellery, it had reduced the Chancellery to ruin. Today there is no trace of Speer’s grand building.